Govt pushes forth on food stamps, free power to needy program

Alternate Social Solidarity Minister Theano Fotiou told private MEGA TV that a call for applications in order to receive humanitarian aid will be issued in April, in accordance with provisions of a draft bill to remedy what the leftist government calls a humanitarian crisis in the country.

She said priority will be given to families with children and that there will be income ceiling.

Fotiou said 30,000 households in total would receive a bonus for rent, and this would range from 70 euros to 220 euros. She said primary family residences whose power had been cut due to an inability to pay until Dec. 31, 2014, would be reconnected. The reconnection will occur without a fee and regardless of who owes to the Public Power Corp., the state-run power utility in Greece. Beneficiaries will get up to 300 kW per month until the end of the year, she clarified.

A subsidy for the purchase of foodstuffs would be applied through the use of a card that is yet to be set up.